Suspicious client

[399b5568]

Hi Upwork team,

I am new to Upwork and have submitted my first proposal for a career coach/Job interview coach/resume writer assignment which seemed interesting and matching with my work experience, the client sent me a message first showing interest on my profile and planning to work together on the project on career content and coaching, then they asked for my linkedin profile and sent me a message on it asking to link my profile to their website, and they started asking me to accept and upload my name, photo, email and work details to their website and to write about them on my linkedin, twitter etc...! This was a suspicious request to me and I noticed they might not have a real assignment on Upwork, the project advertised was fake and its a way to drag experts to get in touch for their benefit .. they disappeared after I asked about the hours for the assignment and how we can arrange to work together through Upwork before giving any more details or permissions!

Apparently it is a suspicious client and they are not serious about employing freelancers on hourly bases as mentioned, this is a marketing spam for anyone who could be naive and could trust the Upwork website and give the fake client a permission to use them!

I am really upset how they have wasted my time and gave me hopes to get my first project through Upwork and they are not even taking in consideration that Upwork is only for seriouse freelancers who are searching for active assignments.

it will be better if the Upwork management take an action on suspicious clients like them and cancel their assignments on the website in order to avoid anyone else getting involved with fake projects.

Please contact me if you need more details.

Thank you

Kind regards

Hulum Saati

[celgins]

Upwork rarely—if ever—takes action to prevent suspicious clients from posting jobs. In fact, clients who are beyond suspicious (i.e., scammers) are often allowed to continue operating on the site. Sad, but true.

It’s great that you realized this client had no intention of giving you a legitimate job. Their scheme is common; they are link-building and profile building, and trying to get as many free inbound links and reviews as possible. You can try to flag the job as inappropriate, but nothing is likely to happen--especially if the job post does not explicitly request LinkedIn, Facebook, or Twitter links or reviews.

[399b5568]

Hi Clark, 

Thank you for your message, I am quite surprised that no one from Upwork management has even replied to my message of the suspicious client but lesson learned now and I won't be taking clients seriously unless there is a real paid project, am quite sure many people have been facing similar issues with clients, and we should always write on the forums for other members to understand how some projects can be fake.

Thanks for your advice as well and wish you the best with your work.